Spoilers are ahead for Halo season 2, episode 5, "Aleria."

Summary

• Kwan Ha's vision on Aleria hints at a looming force separate from the Covenant threat.
• The Mother warns Kwan of a cryptic danger, potentially setting the stage for the Flood's arrival in Halo season 3.
• It's unclear how The Mother, a shaman from Sanctuary, might figure into the larger story.

In the Covenant's Arbiter, Var 'Gatanai (Viktor Åkerblom), the invasion decimates Reach's civilian population and the UNSC's forces alike. Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber), Riz-028 (Natasha Culzac), the late Vannak-134, and a legion of UNSC Marines keep the Covenant at bay, but there's clearly no winning the battle.

While iral Jacob Keyes (Danny Sapani) and Corporal Talia Perez (Cristina Rodlo) orchestrate a last-minute civilian evacuation, several main characters die in Halo season 2, episode 4, including Keyes and Vannak. But the humans' losses amount to more than just casualties: Makee (Charlie Murphy), a Covenant-raised human who calls herself the "blessed one," and The Arbiter infiltrate the depths of ONI's facilities and steal the all-important A.I. construct Cortana (Jen Taylor; Christina Bennington). However, as Kwan Ha's vision on Aleria proves, the Covenant aren't the galaxy's only massive threat.

Kwan Ha Has A Vision At The Memorial For Vannak & Reach

Vannak, one of the characters who dies in Halo season 2, episode 4, was a core part of Master Chief's Silver Team. As a result, Riz risks her life to collect his body from the battlefield. Kwan Ha tells John that she sat with Vannak's body during the journey to Aleria to ensure he wouldn't be alone. When she suggests that John give Vannak a proper burial, the Spartan refuses. To him, Vannak died the day he became a Spartan. However, John does show up at the memorial Kwan Ha holds for Vannak and the glassed planet of Reach.

A haunting, prophetic figure, The Mother warns Kwan Ha of a looming force that threatens humans and the Covenant alike.

Kwan Ha, who lost her father in Halo season 1, wonders if grieving a whole planet is possible. Despite the enormity of the situation, Dr. Halsey (Natascha McElhone) delivers a touching speech about the losses they've suffered. While the survivors of the Fall of Reach gather around the funeral pyre in mourning, Kwan Ha experiences a sudden vision. She's visited by The Mother (Olwen Fouéré), a shaman who was introduced on the planet Sanctuary in Halo season 2, episode 1. A haunting, prophetic figure, The Mother warns Kwan Ha of a looming force that threatens humans and the Covenant alike.

The Mother Hints At Kwan Ha’s Role Halo Season 3’s The Flood Plotline

At the end of the sophomore season's first episode, Halo's Kwan Ha teased a missing villain that's crucial to the core canon of the games: the Flood. Kwan relays the tale of a monster — one that "takes everything." Between that hint and the drawings that speckle the ceiling of Kwan Ha's cave hideout, it seems like the arrival of Halo: Combat Evolved's parasitic organism is imminent. So long as there's sentient, intelligent life in the universe, The Flood will keep consuming (and growing). After all, the Flood is the reason the Forerunners created the universe-sterilizing Halo array superweapon.

Halo season 2's fiinale airs on March 21, 2024.

In Kwan's vision, The Mother doesn't call The Flood out by name, but she does show Kwan flashes of the cave drawings. In earlier episodes of Halo season 2, it seemed like Kwan Ha and other characters thought the apparent tale of The Flood was just that: a scary story. However, as the show lurches toward Makee and The Arbiter's arrival at one of the Halo installations, The Flood's introduction seems inevitable. Although Kwan Ha's vision of The Mother is a haunting warning, the looming threat may not appear until Halo season 3.